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Today we continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume IV — The Wonder Twins”. I am using Joseph as a good example of our need for patience. We are seeking to learn from the different phases of Joseph’s life. Each phase (paternal, pit, Potiphar, prison, and palace/Prime Minister) has significance to this series and to our lives. There are lessons to be learned in every season.
(James 1:2-4 TPT)
2 My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can!
3 For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things.
4 And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.
(Ecc 3:1 ERV)
There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.
(Gen 41:56-57 ERV)
56 There was famine everywhere, so Joseph gave the people grain from the warehouses. He sold the stored grain to the people of Egypt. The famine was bad in Egypt,
57 but the famine was bad everywhere. So people from the countries around Egypt had to come to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. While you are patiently doing what God said, you will have to resist thoughts of fear and doubt that tell you that you are wasting your time.
Diligence during times of abundance can seem unnecessary, but that’s why it takes disciplines to be great. You must be laser-focused in order to become the man/woman God called you to be.
Imagine what it was like to have seven of the most amazing, prosperous, and plenteous years of Egypt’s history, only to have to dutifully store 20% of every harvest because Joseph said so. I am sure that many of the citizens of Egypt thought this was an exercise in futility. It took a great deal of time, energy, effort, and focus, to execute the plan God gave Joseph. And it will take all of those things to execute the plan God gives you.
While you are executing God’s plan, you will get thoughts of fear, doubt, and unbelief from satan. Satan will do all he can to get you to think that you are wasting your time. But believe me, you are not. When the famine started, Egypt was the only nation that was prepared! Their patience and perseverance paid off big time and you will be able to say the same.
— While you are patiently preparing, the process may seem unnecessary, but when the season SHIFTS, you will be glad you submitted to the process of being prepared.
— There will come a day when you look back and thank yourself for not succumbing to the thoughts of doubt or the pressure to give up!
Stick with the process.
— If you cut corners today, you will pay for it tomorrow.
— If Egypt had not stuck with the process for the 84 months of plenty, they would not have been prepared during the 84 months of famine.
When you cut corners in your season of preparation, you are hurting no one but yourself.
— God is not punishing you, He is preparing you.
— But if you fail to patiently endure the processing, you are hurting your future self.
— Your future YOU will thank you for the patience, diligence, and focus you display today!
— You will not be disappointed. Stick with it. Be patient. In the end, you will be glad you patiently endured. Remember, greater is coming!
2. If God does not keep you FROM IT, He can bless you IN IT!
God has ways of keeping you out of storms. But then again, there are times when He simply gives you an umbrella, so you can ride out the storm unscathed.
In John 17 Jesus prayed for us. He prayed that the Father would NOT take us out of the world. He said that we are IN the world, but not OF the world. He knew that we are different. So He did not want the Father to take us OUT fo the world, but rather to allow us to shine as LIGHT in the middle of darkness. We are supposed to be HOPE in the middle of despair.
So when the world is going through something — like the famine of Egypt or like COVID-19 today — God does not have to take you out of the situation, but He can bless you right in it. He can cause you to prosper when everyone else is struggling. You can cause you to have peace when all those around you are in fear. This is how He draws the lost to Him!
— When the world is struggling, you should get excited. This is your time to shine!
— Let God’s light shine IN you and THROUGH you, so the world can see it, and so He can be glorified through your life and living!
3. If you diligently stick with God’s plan, you will be prepared when others are not.
You can be in the same place at the same time as others, but what is negatively impacting them does not have to negatively impact you. What crushes others does not have to crush you. Why? Because God is with you and He was preparing you for this all along. This is where patience and perseverance come in. When God is preparing you, you often don’t see the need for the diligence and focus the Holy Spirit will lead you to operate in. But if you listen to Him, and you do what He says, when the season SHIFTS, you will be prepared when others are not.
— If you are patient, and you go through whatever process God is leading you through, there will come a day when you will be glad you did.
— The patience of your today, and the focused required therein, will pay off in your tomorrow.
— Do what God is leading you to do today, even if it seems foolish, even if you don’t understand why. Because there will come a day when you understand what God is doing, and on that day, you will be glad you listened to God.
— When you listen to the Holy Spirit and you do patiently do what He tells you to do, God can see to it that you are prepared for the fire when it comes. When that time comes, you will be able to walk through the fire unscathed. Not only that, but you can come out on the other side and not even smell like smoke (Daniel 3:26,27).
4. People need to see something IN YOU they do not have!
The nation of Egypt was in a position to sell grain to their own people and to the people of every surrounding nation. While others were struggling to survive, they were thriving, because they had the patience to go through the process God led them to go through. It paid off for them and it will pay off for you. When that time comes, and others are struggling, God’s light will be shining through you!
The world is looking for something different. If you look just like them, sound like them, and act like them, then you are no different from them and your life will never DRAW them to God!
— If all people see in you are problems, they will never come to you because they have problems. They need to see something in you they do not have!
— People from the surrounding area came to Egypt because they were the only ones prepared for the famine.
God wants you to be different.
— God wants you to be light int he midst of darkness.
— God wants you to be hope in the midst of despair.
So stick with it. Patient preparation eventually pays off. The greater the assignment from God, the longer the preparation process. But when the time comes, and the seasons change, you will be the one that is unmoved, unfazed, and unbothered, because God is your source. At that point, you will be in a position to lead others to your God because they will see something in you they do not have!
So remain patient. Greater is coming!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I know patience and perseverance eventually pay off. Therefore, I resist thoughts of fear, doubt, and unbelief. I resist every urge to cut corners or take shortcuts. I do what is right, I do it because it is right, and I also do it right, every time. I remain focused, I do what You lead me to do every day (even when I don’t understand it), and I know that in the end, my latter days shall be greater than my former days. My labor is not in vain. GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
